Encounter VIII

Welcome! This conference is for you if you are a researcher or a museum professional or have a general interest in manors and manorial studies. The conference is open to everyone for a participation fee.

The Manors at War – Manorial Research Conference, organised in English by KAMU Espoo City Museum, will be held at Hanaholmen Cultural Centre in Espoo on 13–15 June 2024.

The Manors at War Conference is a forum for international and topical manorial research by universities and museums. The seminar is being organised in cooperation with ENCOUNTER, the European Network for Country House and Estate Research.

Talks at the seminar will present the eventful history of manors with a particular focus on the impact of wars. The talks will present the fate of individual manors and take a broader look at the societal, social, and economic significance of manors in times of war and crisis.

 

Historian and Professor in Conservation Mattias Legnér from Uppsala University has particularly focused his research on current and past conflicts and their impact on cultural heritage. Legnér has participated in numerous research projects and produced prolific contributions to monographs and articles in his field. His lecture will be on the topic: Uses and abuses of heritage in Scandinavia: The Second World War.

Professor Paul Zalewski, Heritage Studies at the European University in Frankfurt/Oder “Viadrina” is a multifaceted researcher who has written articles and edited numerous volumes in his field. In addition to his scientific work, he has participated in conservation projects of buildings in Germany, France, Romania, and Poland. His lecture will be on the topic: The End of Manorial Prussia. Social Change and the World Wars.

There will also be shorter presentations by researchers and specialists, visits to Espoo Manor and its exhibition The Manor on the King´s Road, and an excursion day to other local manors.

More detailed programme and content of the conference.

Conference packages are on sale, and the deadline for registrations is Tuesday 30 April. 
 
Registration for the conference is open on the KAMU Espoo City Museum website/online shop. (external link, opens in a new window)Registration is binding. 

The participation fee is EUR 50 per day. You can participate on one, two or three days at a price of EUR 50, 100 or 150. Note: each day must be paid for separately in the online shop. Please add the participant’s name, e-mail, special diet and allergies in the space for additional information.

The participation fee includes the conference programme of the day plus:

1st day: coffee, lunch at Espoo Manor (is not accessible) and dinner at Hanaholmen Conference Centre (excluding drinks) 
2nd day: coffee and lunch at Hanaholmen Conference Centre (linkki) 
3rd day: bus transport and visits to manors with guided tours and coffee. Note: the number of participants is limited, lunch not included in the price. The bus transport and manors are not accessible.

Participants need to book and pay for their accommodation. A discounted (is valid until 30 April) quota has been reserved for seminar participants at the Hanaholmen Conference Hotel(external link, opens in a new window):  for reservations, contact reception at +358 9 4350220 // reception@hanaholmen.fi

Quota prices with discount code “ENCOUNTER” are:

1-person room EUR 168/night 
2-person room EUR 188/night 
The price includes buffet breakfast at the hotel and morning sauna and swim.

Additional information: 
 
Programme and content of the seminar: curator susanna.aaltonen@espoo.fi and curator tryggve.gestrin@espoo.fi

Seminar attendance fee: sara.riento@espoo.fi

CALL FOR PAPERS:

KAMU Espoo City Museum has the pleasure of inviting you to the 8:th ENCOUNTER conference taking place on the June 13th – 15th 2024 in Espoo, Finland.

The conference is held in conjunction with the research project of the KAMU Espoo City Museum: The Espoo Manor, which focuses on the Espoo Manor and its long and rich history. The results of the project to be presented in an exhibition presenting the history of the Manor of Espoo and in a scholarly work titled: The Espoo Manor – The Manor on the King’s Road, both to be published in October 2023.

The Espoo Manor was founded by King Gustaf I of Sweden in the 1550’s as part of a network of royal demesnes designed to support the logistics of the Swedish army during the war with Russia 1554–1557. Manors have historically played an important role during the many periods of conflict across Europe – as strongholds, supply depots, prisons, training centres, headquarters, and hospitals for example. During periods of occupation manors have usually fared badly at the hands of the invading army, and even sometimes at the hands of their own troops. Manors also had a complicated role to play in both the build up to and the aftermath of wars – as symbols of resistance or occupation, as well as symbols of regeneration or a new political order. The theme of manors in times of war is regrettably current in Europe even today.

Participants are invited to send proposals for presentations, which may approach the theme of the conference, manors and wars, broadly during the modern period (from about 1500 CE to the present), from different perspectives and addressing questions such as e.g.:

• How have manors been shaped by wartime? 
• How did manors operate as economic and logistical centres during wartime?
• What is the history of women within manors and estates caught up in wars?
• When and why were manors rebuilt after periods of destruction during war? 
• How did wartime affect the labour forces that manors depended on and what impact did this have?
• What stories emerge from manors in the aftermath of war – as remnants of lost communities, as symbols or resistance or occupation, or as legacies of a changed world? 
• Manors and estates during and after the world wars.
• The mission of museums in their presentation of wars. How do museums deal with the dark heritage of war? Research, preservation, protection and public communication of the cultural heritage of manor houses and estates and war.

According to this multiscalar approach, three sessions of a maximum of four presentations each will be organized. The length of the presentations is 20 minutes max and 10 minutes for discussion. Therefore, the excellence of applications as well as the experience of the potential contributors will be relevant for choosing the conference contributions.

Abstracts in English of max. 300 words (references excluded) as well as a brief biographical note with your title and institutional affiliation can be sent to Susanna Aaltonen.

The deadline for abstract submission is January, 31st 2024. Notification of acceptance will be sent in February 2024.

The language of the conference is English.

The selected contributors may be exempted from the conference fee (150 Euro). The organizers are currently applying for additional funding.

The conference programme and information for participants to follow. Questions and preliminary applications may be addressed to Susanna Aaltonen or Tryggve Gestrin.

More information can be found on KAMU’s and ENCOUNTER’s(external link, opens in a new window) websites.
 
Call for Paper on Encounter's Network for Activities and Initiatives.(external link, opens in a new window)